Time for More Wine

The fall and winter are a great time to sample new vintages at area restaurants and stores. Look for special events at these places.

by Julekha Dash

(page 2 of 3)

Sedona Restaurant (26 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Bethany Beach, 539-1200) usually holds a wine dinner every six to eight weeks, owner Marian Parrott says. Winery representatives typically talk about different wines during the event. Before the dinner, guests get to mingle while tasting a starter wine and enjoying hors d’oeuvres.

Women who are looking for a fun night out should head to Lupo di Mare Cucina Italiano (247 Rehoboth Ave., Rehoboth Beach, 226-2240). The restaurant’s women and wine club has exploded in popularity since it launched January 2009, says events coordinator Molly King.

Its first wine dinner drew 50. Now, the sell-out event draws 100 women. The monthly dinners feature door prizes from local boutiques, such as Made Ya Look! Salon & Spa. The dinners are usually held the first or second Tuesday of each month, with a break during summer. Past wine dinners have featured wines from different parts of Italy. In the fall, the Lupo di Mare dinners will feature two red wines and two white wines.

If you’re up for a challenge, consider a blind wine tasting at Italian restaurant DiFebo’s (789 Garfield Pkwy., Bethany Beach, 539-4550). Guests are blindfolded while they eat a six-course meal and sip seven different wines for $60 per person.

Blindfolding guests enhances the culinary experience, says owner Jeff Osias. “When you take away one sense, other senses get heightened,” he says.

A spring event was so popular that the restaurant will hold another this fall.

Restaurants aren’t the only places at the beach where you can sample Chardonnays and Chablis. If you want to get your vino fix for less, attend a wine tasting or sample wine flights at the bar.

Manager Meghan Lee of Porcini House Bistro and Treetop Lounge (210 Second St., Rehoboth Beach, 227-6494) wants to revamp the restaurant’s wine list and host more events in the fall. If you act quickly, you can still take advantage of the summer special: four wines for $10 on Sunday evenings on the deck through September. Munch on flatbread or bruschetta appetizers while sipping the varietals selected by Laura Lamprecht, of Specialty Wines Inc. in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. The tastings start at 5:30 p.m. and last one hour.